Moscow cool to anti-fur plea / Animal rights group speaks of cruelty; wearers point to temperature

Michael Mainville, Chronicle Foreign Service

Published
4:00 am PST, Sunday, February 11, 2007

Women dressed in furs are among the pedestrians on the streets of Moscow, Russia, Feb. 9, 2007. Michael Mainville/Special to The Chronicle.

Women dressed in furs are among the pedestrians on the streets of Moscow, Russia, Feb. 9, 2007. Michael Mainville/Special to The Chronicle.

Photo: Michael Mainville

Photo: Michael Mainville

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Women dressed in furs are among the pedestrians on the streets of Moscow, Russia, Feb. 9, 2007. Michael Mainville/Special to The Chronicle.

Women dressed in furs are among the pedestrians on the streets of Moscow, Russia, Feb. 9, 2007. Michael Mainville/Special to The Chronicle.

Photo: Michael Mainville

Moscow cool to anti-fur plea / Animal rights group speaks of cruelty; wearers point to temperature

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2007-02-11 04:00:00 PDT Moscow -- Every winter, when the snow begins to fall and the air turns bitter cold, Russian women reach into their closets and pull out their cherished fur coats.

Some may have only one, bought after years of scrimping. Others may have closets brimming with mink, sable and white fox. But each considers the fur coat essential, as much a status symbol as protection from her country's brutal winters.

Now a Russian animal rights group called Vita is trying to get women to part with their beloved furs, hoping to repeat the success of their counterparts in the West, who have made the fur coat an endangered species on the streets of London and New York.

On Monday, Vita will hold a rally at Pushkin Square in central Moscow asking Russians to hand in their fur coats, hats and stoles so they can be destroyed. The event is timed with the start of Maslenitsa, or Shrovetide, when Russians traditionally begin spring cleaning before Lent.

"We know it's difficult for people to give up things that are fashionable and expensive, but we want to make them aware of the cruelty that goes into making their fur coats," said Yelena Maruyeva, Vita's director. "People don't understand how badly animals are treated on fur farms, how they're abused."

Animal rights groups say the millions of animals raised for their pelts around the world are frequently mistreated -- kept in small, filthy cages for the duration of their lives before being killed, often painfully. Vita models itself on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, which for nearly three decades has been waging a high-profile campaign against animal cruelty in the United States.

In its war against fur, PETA has scored dozens of celebrity endorsements, with many -- most recently Playboy model Joanna Krupa -- posing nude but for high heels for its "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign.

Vita has had less success. Its attempts to recruit high-profile supporters in Russia have largely failed, with only a handful of minor celebrities agreeing to give up fur. Russian furriers and designers say Vita's campaign is out of touch with public opinion.

"For a Russian woman, fur is not only fashionable, it's necessary," said Helen Yarmak, one of Russia's top fur designers, who has salons in Moscow and New York. "When it is as cold as it is here, people really need fur."

After the warmest January on record, winter finally arrived in Moscow this month as temperatures plunged below minus-15 degrees. The streets are crowded with women and men in fur coats and hats.

"How else are you going to keep warm in this weather?" asked 29-year-old Nadya Ivanova, wrapped in a brown mink coat.

Ivanova said she doubted anyone would turn up Monday to hand in their furs. "Every young Russian girl dreams of getting her first fur coat. She's not just going to give it away," she said.

The country is the largest consumer of fur in the world, according to the British Fur Trade Association, with Russians spending about $2.5 billion a year on furs. Industry groups say fur sales have soared in recent years as Russia's economic boom has driven demand for luxury goods. Furs at Yarmak's boutiques can cost as little as $500 or as much as $400,000.

Fur hats and coats have long been a symbol of prestige among Russians, with the most expensive furs, such as sable, considered the most prestigious. "Fur is a symbol for a Russian woman, of the love of a man or of how hard they've worked," Yarmak said.

"The industry is regulated, and there are standards for our fur providers," said Natalya Chirkova, a spokeswoman for Soyuzpushina, Russia's largest fur auction house. "It's impossible to have good quality fur if the animals are treated badly."

She also said fake fur and other synthetic materials are worse for the environment than genuine fur because their production leads to large-scale factory pollution.

Vita knows it's facing an uphill battle and admits it is unlikely many people will actually turn in their furs Monday. "I can't even get my relatives to do it," Maruyeva said of the call to renounce furs. "My aunt said she knows it's cruel but can't appear in public without her fur coat."

Mauryeva said the animal rights movement is still in its infancy in Russia, and so Vita hopes that by raising public awareness, Russians may one day turn against fur.

"We're just a drop in the sea right now, because there's no history of animal rights in Russia," Maruyeva said. "But when we show people footage of the fur farming and the cruelty, they start to understand. So it is possible."